Perennials. Taproot cylindric or fusiform, stout, slightly fleshy. Stem branching monopodially. Corolla usually lobed to middle or below; tube as long as or shorter than lobes (except in Gentiana doxiongshangensis); plicae reduced to a small tooth or auricle on side of lobe. Anthers ellipsoid. Seed coat usually minutely reticulate, rarely alveolate with simple shallow hexagonal pits.

Twelve species: Bhutan, China, NE India, Nepal; nine species in China.